The Our Father is the one prayer Jesus himself taught — and at Mass it comes right before Communion. Here's why, and what "give us this day our daily bread" really means in the liturgy.
The Our Father: Meaning of the Lord's Prayer and Why It Comes Before Communion
At Mass, just before Communion, the priest introduces the Our Father with the words "we dare to say." In this session of The Mass Explained, Dr. Brant Pitre opens up the Lord's Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples (Matthew 6:9–13) and shows why the Church places it here, on the threshold of Holy Communion. Drawing on the earliest sources — the first-century Didache (which already prescribes praying it three times a day with the doxology "for the power and the glory are yours forever"), the Church Fathers (Cyprian, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great), and St. Thomas Aquinas — he unfolds the ancient and Eucharistic meaning of the petition "give us this day our daily bread," and why Aquinas called the Our Father "the most perfect of prayers."
Key passages & sources examined: the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:1–4); the Didache (1st century) on the prayer and its doxology; St. Cyprian, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and St. Gregory the Great; St. Thomas Aquinas on "daily bread" and the perfection of the prayer; and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.
Why is the Our Father prayed at Mass right before Communion? Because it asks for "our daily bread" — which the Fathers understood above all as the Eucharist — so it prepares us to receive Holy Communion.
What does "give us this day our daily bread" mean at Mass? Literally bread, but principally the "Eucharistic Bread," per the Roman Missal and St. Cyprian.
Is the Our Father in the Bible? Yes — Jesus teaches it in Matthew 6:9–13 (and Luke 11).
Why does the priest say "we dare to say" before it? An ancient phrase (Cyprian, Augustine, Jerome): we "dare" to call God "Father" only because Christ commanded and taught us to.
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I love getting the mass readings/readings explained, every week. Dr Brandt Petrie it’s truly amazing in his knowledge of the Old Testament and the New Testament.!
I’ve subscribed for many years and have shared Brant Pitre’s excellent work as gifts to friends and colleagues around the world. Keep up the good work. Team!
Once logged in, you can access everything by going to 'Membership' in the main menu bar of our website, then 'Mass Readings Explained' and then pick one of the options there. The calendar view works well for finding those Mass Readings that are in the near future and The Mass Explained will take you to videos in that series.
I love getting the mass readings/readings explained, every week. Dr Brandt Petrie it’s truly amazing in his knowledge of the Old Testament and the New Testament.!
I’ve subscribed for many years and have shared Brant Pitre’s excellent work as gifts to friends and colleagues around the world. Keep up the good work. Team!
